For Nick Checker’s first trip to Africa since his appointment as head of the Bureau of African Affairs at the US Department of State on January 6, he traveled to Bamako. The message delivered by Checker, a former CIA military analyst and specialist in the Horn of Africa, is not good news for defenders of democratic values.
Although few among them had any illusions about the importance given to governance issues by the US administration since Donald Trump returned to power in early 2025, the American diplomat left no room for doubt. He went to the Malian capital on Monday, February 2, “to convey the United States’ respect for Mali’s sovereignty (…) and move past policy missteps. The United States looks forward to discussing next steps for (…) consulting with other governments in the region, including Burkina Faso and Niger, on shared security and economic interests.”
These three neighboring Sahel countries share the fact that they are ruled with an iron fist by military leaders who seized power from civilians. Mali led the way in 2021, followed by Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger the following year. Since then, masked men in camouflage have systematically eroded freedom of expression, dissolved political parties and imprisoned opponents to their own benefit. In essence, Checker told them: You can rely on us at least as much as on the Russians to fight jihadist groups; your natural resources are not only of interest to China; and, don’t worry, we will not repeat the “political mistakes made” by interfering in your internal affairs.
This marks a turning point. In Niger, the Biden administration (2021–2025) had indeed been slow to condemn the coup against the elected President Mohamed Bazoum, hoping to save the costly Agadez air base that housed US drones tracking terrorists. Eventually, US troops had to pack up and leave, and bilateral cooperation was suspended, as it was with the other two juntas, pending the return of civilian rule. That is no longer the case. For Niger and others, democracy as a condition for cooperation or even basic respect for human rights in exchange for technical partnerships or funding has disappeared.
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